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Alben W

Alben William Barkley (24 November 1877-30 April 1956) was Vice President of the United States from 20 January 1949 to 20 January 1953, succeeding Harry S. Truman and preceding Richard Nixon. He previously served in the US House of Representatives (D-KY 1) from 4 March 1913 to 3 March 1927 (succeeding Ollie M. James and preceding William Voris Gregory) and a US Senator from 4 March 1927 to 19 January 1949 (succeeding Richard P. Ernst and preceding Garrett L. Withers) and from 3 January 1955 to 30 April 1956 (succeeding John Sherman Cooper and preceding Robert Humphreys).

Biography[]

Alben William Barkley was born in Lowes, Kentucky in 1877, and he was a childhood friend of Adlai Stevenson I and James A. McKenzie. He worked as a law clerk under Charles K. Wheeler in Paducah, although Wheeler was a supporter of William Jennings Bryan and Barkley was a Gold Democrat. He served as McCracken County attorney from January 1906 to 1909, became a county judge in 1909, and served in the US House of Representatives from 1913 to 1927. Barkley became a liberal during Woodrow Wilson's presidency, supporting his New Freedom domestic agenda and foreign policy. He ran for Governor in 1923 on a platform of endorsing Prohibition and opposing gambling, but he lost the Democratic primary. Barkley went on to serve in the US Senate from 1927 to 1949, supporting the New Deal. Allegations that Barkley and his 1938 primary opponent Happy Chander had employed Works Progress Administration employees to campaign for each of them led to the adoption of the Hatch Act, which banned federal employees from campaigning for political candidates. During World War II, Barkley began to exert more influence over President Franklin D. Roosevelt's domestic policy, but he resigned as floor leader after Roosevelt vetoed the Revenue Act of 1943; however, the US Congress overrode Roosevelt's veto, and Barkley was restored as floor leader. Barkley energized the 1948 Democratic National Convention's delegates with a stirring speech, earning him the status of Democratic presidential nominee Harry S. Truman's running mate. He served as Vice President from 1949 to 1953, and he served as Truman's de facto spokesman due to Truman's preoccupation with the Korean War. After Truman announced that he would not seek re-election in 1952, Barkley announced a presidential bid of his own, but his advanced age led to labor unions derailing his campaign. He decided to return to the Senate, serving from 1955 until his death in Lexington, Virginia in 1956 at the age of 78.

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